Raleigh vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Raleigh	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2265	$3486
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5273	$7909
🏠 One person rent	$1374	$2368
🏘️ Family rent	$2201	$4139
🍽️ Food expenses	$624	$735
🚐 Transport expenses	$89.7	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4362	$5217
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	14 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	82	86
😀 Quality of life	89	91
🏙️ Population	468K	1.39M

The cost of living in Raleigh is 35% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 1363rd and 52nd ($2265 vs $3486) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1143rd and 39th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Raleigh compared to 1.5 months in San Diego. Ranked 54th vs 38th best cities to live in the United States, and 219th vs 155th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/raleigh/san-diego.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Raleigh vs San Diego infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/raleigh/san-diego" target="_blank">Raleigh vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Raleigh vs San Diego

Prices for goods and services in Raleigh and San Diego are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Raleigh	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.3	$22.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.7	$84.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.64	$8.97
☕ Cappuccino	$6.08	$6.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.82	$3.17
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1531	$2489
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1084	$2046
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2619	$4508
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1754	$3643
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$138	$162
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$211	$251
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.1	$71.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.17%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3898	$8050
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2197	$6577
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.42	$2.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$47.7	$71.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.4	$19.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.81	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.94	$1.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.23	$4.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.67	$3.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.61	$7.04
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.6	$16
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.3	$20.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.38	$4.24
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.7	$4.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.76	$4.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.01	$2.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.55	$2.63
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$1.5
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.65	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.4	$16.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.96	$3
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.18	$12.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.2	$15.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.45	$9.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.97	$5.48
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.95	$2.47
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.7	$72.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15	$19.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$127	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.8	$30.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.7	$66.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1475	$1937
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24243	$22295

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2229
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2483
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1850
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2169
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2280
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2300
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2241
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2063
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2133
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2116
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$1842
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2016
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1803
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1766
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2089
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2212
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2059
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1775
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2027
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2055
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2073
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2045
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1909
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2007
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2200
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$1863
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2070
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2105
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2007
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1849
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2075
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2031
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1851
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$1904
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$2003
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2295
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2375
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2129
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2204
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1729

Cities near San Diego

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Coronado	$3269
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$3094
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$3023
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$3033
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2997
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2984
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$3065
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$3077
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1276
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2956
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$3012
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$3265
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$1126
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$1108
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$3274
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$3008
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$3269
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$3011
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$3221
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2984
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2690
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2994
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3137
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$3051
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2799
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$3075
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2850
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3492
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$3129
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2646
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$967
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2663
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3520
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3064
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2984
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3503
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$2598
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2768
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2738
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2826